Chichiltepec Village officials signed
an agreement this week which paved the way for two displaced Protestant men to return
to their homes with guarantees of full religious freedom for all, in a process
overseen by the Public Ministry in the Mexican state of Hidalgo.
Casto Hernández Hernández, now 31, and
his cousin Juan Placido Hernández Hernández, aged 26, both members of the United
Pentecostal Church of Mexico, were forcibly displaced in March
2015 after they refused to renounce their faith. They were imprisoned by
village officials in Chichiltepec village, Tlanchinol Municipality, on 12
March. While imprisoned, they were put under pressure to renounce their
Protestant faith. When they refused to do so after 30 hours, they were released
and told they had 18 hours to leave the community.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW),
accompanied by the Mexican religious freedom organisation Impulso 18, met with
the two men in April 2015 and subsequently secured funding for their legal
representation by lawyers affiliated with Impulso 18. Initial hearings with the
State Commission for Human Rights (CEDH) focused on the religious intolerance
instigated by the village delegate, Jesús Domínguez Hernández. Evidence was
presented including a photograph showing the two men in detention and a
40-minute video of the assembly at which Casto Hernández Hernández was
pressured to renounce his faith. A local representative from the State Human
Rights Commission also gave testimony to support Casto and Juan Placido’s case.
Despite the open admission in early
hearings by Domínguez Hernández to the CEDH that he had attempted to force the
men to change their religious beliefs, the case dragged on for almost one year
with the Public Ministry repeatedly cancelling or postponing hearings. In October
2015, the two men told CSW that they had been pressured by government
officials, without their lawyers present, to drop the case and to return to
their community. No guarantees were given that their religious freedom would be
respected.
In November 2015, a change of personnel
at the Public Ministry resulted in yet another delay when the incoming director
communicated that he wanted to fully review the case before making any
decision. This review came to a close with the agreement, described as
“groundbreaking” for the region by local NGOs, that was put in place earlier
this week.
Impulso 18’s Director Dr Jorge Lee
Galindo said: “We, and more importantly Casto and Juan Placido, are very
pleased with the outcome of this process. The village authorities came to the
hearing planning to fight but when they realised they were only a step away
from going to prison, they changed their position. We hope that this case will
set a precedent in Mexico and contribute to an overall change in culture, where
the law is applied correctly and religious freedom for all, as protected in our
constitution and in the various international treaties to which Mexico is
party, is upheld.”
CSW’s Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas
said, “We are tremendously encouraged by the actions of the Hidalgo state
Public Ministry this week and by the village authorities’ recognition that
freedom of religion or belief must be guaranteed for all. We commend the work
of the legal team and all of those at Impulso 18 on behalf of Casto and Juan
Placido, and note that their persistence and insistence that the law be upheld
led to this result. As Casto and Juan Placido return to their homes following
their courageous fight to defend their rights, we hope that this will lead to
increased respect for religious freedom not only in the village of
Chichiltepec, but in the state of Hidalgo and all of Mexico, and that local
authorities will understand that there are consequences for violating the law
and persecuting religious minorities.”